Delay with new American Samoan customs system

The Customs Division of Treasury in America Samoa's has delayed the start up date for the customs automated system and new inspection process which was set for January the 1st.

The Chief of Customs, Glenn Lefiti, says they are making changes to the software for the new system following concerns raised by some locals.

He says as a result, the changeover to the automated system was being postponed, and for the time being customs will continue to process declaration of entries manually until the software is ready.

The Customs Office held training sessions in November for businesses and importers on the use of the new automated computer system, which was designed to better track and compute excise taxes for all goods entering the port.